I absolutely love the energy that they played with in the 68-69 shows. This is a show that I can certainly listen to over and over again. Bummer that the Death Don't Have No Mercy is missing.

Love it! I've been listening to the 9/19/70 DS, and this one couldn't be more different, though it's no less fabulous. We are inexpressibly fortunate to have so much beauty waiting for us at the touch of a mouse.

http://www.seattlestar.net/2013/08/august-31-1968-sky-river-rock-festival/

I never knew unti l now that the Dead played Sultan.

http://www.historylink.org/db_images/wlt122.JPG

And here's a link to a detailed historical account of the festival:

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5425

Update 8/13/11:

OK so the sound is rough in spots, big deal! After exploring virtually all of '68 I have found far worse sounding recordings. This show cannot be faulted for that. It is a stellar performance and deserves be held right along side the spectacular August shows, no doubt.

***********************************************

this is one of the best of the year, but the mediocre sound hurts a bit. great Dark Star (one of the best of '68), very energetic versions of The Eleven, TOO, and especially Alligator highlight this set.

-1 for sound

The church was in order this evening! Wow, what energy and passion they played with in what we would consider a short set.

Over the years this has remained one of my favorites to listen to.

Songs are out of order and not properly named. Piratebay has the soundboards for 68' and this show.

Live at Betty's Nelson's Organic Raspberry Farm

THIS DAY IN GRATEFUL DEAD HISTORY

41 years ago today the GRATEFUL DEAD Performed this show before a live audience...a live audience on drugs.

The Names in the Playlist for the songs don't match the song. You will have to rename them...again!

This show is out of order....

I recommend using your EQ during playback of most of the shows on the IA, this one included.

Windows Media Player has a 10 band EQ and SRS WOW effects that enhance the sound.

Here's one way to download/stream this show:

The IA recommends users of Windows XP view this web-page with RealPlayer.

RealPlayer is a free media player you can download at www.realplayer.com.

Using RealPlayer to view this webpage, click the VBR M3U link to open the songs in the Playlist.

If your Playlist is not open, open it by clicking the Playlist icon at the lower right hand corner of RealPlayer.

Once the songs are in the Playlist, double click the song to play it, then click the record button at the lower left hand corner of Realplayer to record it.

When the red line reaches the other end click the stop button to download the song. Your song is in the RealPlayer Downloads folder.

Repeat these steps for each song.

OR

Take the "audio out" of the "headphone jack" on your computer and hook it up to the "input" on your Reel-to-Reel, Cassette, Beta-Max, VHS, CD, DVD, MP3 recorder and record it in real time....duh?

This show is a continuation of the August shows, in terms of set lists, high quality performances energy. Performances on a lot of the songs are fast.

The first song is a top-notch Dark Star. (August 1968 was the beginning of the best Dark Stars.) The St. Stephan is also top-notch. The short jam between St. Stephen and The Eleven is high-energy and fabulous, and the Eleven is aims to please, though again, though there are problems with the audio mix in the vocals. This Eleven is my favorite song of this particular show. Jerry is just flying through the extended jam after the vocals. Phil then changes the rhythm and key, and the jam gradually slows in a smooth transition. Unfortunately, the recording is cut off before Death Don’t Have No Mercy. A real loss!

The Other One gets back to the fast, driving pace of the Eleven in the previous set, and it’s a strong performance. The whole band is connected here.

Alligator is Pigpen’s turn, and shows that he is the band’s best singer of the period.

After drums, it’s several minutes of Jerry soloing with drums, which is pretty interesting. There’s an explosion into Caution and things get more interesting. It’s up-tempo and wild. Pigpen gives his version of psycheledic blues vocals, and underneath the drums are still producing vibrating energy. There’s an explosion of feedback after Pigpen’s “just a little mojo hand.” Then the pace gets even faster for more jamming. Just amazing.

There’s a jarring cut and gap in the recording before the ending feedback. Ouch. In contrast to the preceding, this feedback is quiet and introspective, fading to nothing.

There are two versions of this recording here at archive. This one (Miller) is the better, no question. The audio quality is better than the Volderding, which also has a buzz and some clipping.

The beginning of the Miller version is a bit messed up: midway into St. Stephen, it stops, and the song starts again from the beginning. Then, Track 3 starts the show again with Dark Star. You can avoid the repeats by starting at Track 3.

The mix for the recording (heard on both versions) has some minor problems with some vocal parts being too low, or drums being too loud. Someone was fiddling with the control board. This gets worked out by the time Cryptical starts.

Still, a 5-star shows. For better recordings of similar shows, check these out:

8/21/68:
http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-08-21.sbd.cotsman.17355.sbeok.shnf
8/22/68:
http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-08-22.sbd.cotsman.14915.sbeok.shnf
8/23/68:
http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-08-23.sbd.sacks.52.sbefail.shnf

1. DS>St. Stephen
2. Intro
3. DS>St. Stephen
4. DS>
5. SS>
6. SS>The 11
7. DDHNM Intro
8. Cryptical>
9. Drums (sic) it's actually an unnecessary track creation.
10 Other One>
11. Cryptical
12. Alligator
13. Caution>End of Caution/Feedback
14. Feedback
15. Outro

Pig does some wierd humming or something into the mike first for me hearing it... Rest of the show does have some tech glitches but ntg too big this is a hot show.

... not in the way described below.

You need to ignore the song names listed on this web page, and instead use the text file, which has the correct ones next to the file names.

The two files that have "alt" in the file name, and are alternate mixes of the entire show.

Then the main mix is separated into individual songs, starting, in the usual way with t1 and so on.

I GOT THIS ON TAPE FROM A FRIEND IN 98. I LOVE THE INTRO "HERE THEY ARE, THE PEOPLE YOU HEARD ABOUT YESTERDAY, KEEPIN IT GOIN RIGHT ALONG, THIS IS THE PEOPLE THAT STARTED IT ALL" GREAT SOUND FOR 68', SMOKIN SET, THANKS ARCHIVE

OK....First off pay no attention to the set list as it comes up when you download because it is a mess. The #1 track listed as stage announcements is actually a compilation of announcements and Dark Star. The 2nd track listed as Dark Star is actually St Stephen. The 3 and 4 tracks are actually alternate mixes to both of the above mentioned songs although listed as something else and on and on and on! There is more but rather than list it all, you need to listen for yourself,heed the warning....lol. Sort it all out because the finished product is worth it. The mixing itself is often much to be desired with most of the emphasis on the lead and the drums. Interestingly enough at times the sound is brilliant , crisp and clear. Dark Star is remarkable.....vintage from this era. Alligator >drums>alligator is hot also. At times this show really cranks. Worth having in your collection for sure....but hey ..you knew that...its The Dead!

As a Dark Star connoisseur and guitar player, this dark star is unique in my experience. By the end of 68 they had Dark Star down pat and Bobby was getting more experimental in his rhythms. In this one, however, the little ditty Bobby is playing, which you hear clearly when Jerry quiets down around 3:08 for a few seconds, is very unique. I mention it because that single rhythm theme is a big influence on the song this night. This is in my opinion the beginning of the best dark star era up until the start of the space jams in 70. One of my favorite dark stars, this and 12/7 the same year.
Otherwise nothing special, but some dick kept turning off the mics and stuff, and we could have had some good deadspeak about alligators as you can hear in the beginning of the track if not for them.

Stars? The Dark Star alone carries this concert for me, so a 5 for it and 3 for the concert. 4.

This show has all three of the big jams they were doing during this period, the Other One suite, the Dark Star>St. Stephen>11>Death medley and the Alligator>Caution pairing. The sound quality is super clean with loads of presence and excellent balance. The bonus alternate mixes (of the entire show) are a nice treat, you can pick which one you like best and burn that one. I think Charlie picked the best one though. An excellent representation of '68 Dead, the '69 sound starting to flower now...

The last 2 tracks may be the "alternate mixes" I included....cm

This show is great- do it now! Definitely worth 5 stars... the sound quality is vivid and sharp... nice, tasty 68 goodness...

sounds good from what I heard, seems to be something wrong with the track listing though, this entry had more seperate tracks and the names didn't carry over right

good enegry, some vocals shouls be higher and a few other things bother me, but I'll have to listen more (or maybe not)